Derrick Goold-Bird Land - Where will these closers close? (A Poll)
TOWER GROVE — The closer market gained sudden speed in Las Vegas at the Baseball Winter Meetings with the New York Mets landing Francisco Rodriguez to close and then elbowing aside contenders like the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit to trade for Seattle closer J.J. Putz, adding him as a setup reliever. At the same time, the Cleveland Indians pounced on Kerry Wood to handle their ninth innings and then …
Nothing. Silence. Impatience. Little more than whispers, noncommittal footsy under the radar.
It was the eye of the storm passing over the market.
With word Sunday that the Los Angeles Angels are out of the Mark Teixeira hunt and redirecting their efforts to land Brian Fuentes, the closer derby could spin back into action just in time for Christmas. The delay in the market has had the desired effect for Fuentes. It’s created a duel for his services. This entry is all about the polls, so we’ll start with Fuentes:
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There are still a handful of teams shopping for a closer, including Detroit, Milwaukee, the Angels and Cardinals. San Diego, Oakland and the Los Angeles Dodgers could also enter the fray if their is a arm or a price to their liking.
The Cardinals' all-time saves leader, Jason Isringhausen, waits for the closer market to spin his direction.
Several of those teams have in-house alternatives, though they range from Jonathan Broxton, who has experience doing it, to rookies like the Cardinals’ Kid Closers to less ideal candidates from the middle innings. The market offers a similar spectrum of options, though in dwindling commodities. Fuentes is atop the class, while Trevor Hoffman is the seasoned vet who had a strong second half an Jason Isringhausen is on the verge of 300 and in need of a bounceback season. Takashi Saito has the recent track record to go with an injury concern. Juan Cruz starred as a setup man in Arizona and is arguably the best reliever still available — but is he ready for a team to promote him to the ninth inning?
The focus here is on the two veterans, the Cardinals’ all-time leader in saves and baseball’s all-time leader in saves, a total of 847 saves between them and no real clear sense where this hurry-up-and-wait market will take them.
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